PEERS were accused of doing “irreparable damage” to their reputations last night as Theresa May suffered a 15th defeat in the House of Lords over her Brexit plans.

On the final day of scrutiny of the flagship EU (Withdrawal) Bill in the upper house, Lords backed a cross-party call for setting up a quango to enforce Brussels environment rules in the UK after the country quits the EU.

The defeat, by a margin of 50 votes, followed Lords backing for 14 previous amendments tabled by anti-Brexit peers.

Jacob Rees-Mogg, the chairman of the 60-strong backbench European Research Group of Tory MPs, last night condemned the vote as another attempt to sabotage Britain’s departure from the EU.

He said: “The Lords are increasingly determined to stop Brexit and cock a snook at voters.”

Related articles

The Lords are increasingly determined to stop Brexit and cock a snook at voters

Jacob Rees-Mogg MP

During an unusually ill-tempered debate in the run-up to last night’s vote, one Brexit-backing Lord said the series of defeats inflicted on the Government had marked “dark days” for the Upper House.

Tory Lord Framlingham, a former deputy Commons speaker, feared the “false and dangerous” posturing by Remainer peers had raised doubts about the future of the Lords.

He said: “The days we have spent debating amendments to this Bill have been very dark days for your lordships’ house. Without any doubt my lords, these days will go down in history as the House of Lords at its worst.”

Lord Framlingham said anti-Brexit peers had “used and abused” the “gentle” system of scrutiny in the Lords “to further their own end to stop us leaving the EU”. He faced cries of “shame” and “rubbish” from peers for his attack.

GETTY

The unelected Lords stymied Theresa May's agenda for a 15th time

He said: “I watched and listened with growing concern and incredulity as people who should know better have put down or spoken to amendments, most of which have been totally out of order and nothing to do with the Bill before the House.

“Irreparable damage has been done to our reputation by the antics of these dark days. To set ourselves up, in such a disreputable way as guardians of wisdom and the common good when so many of the amendments we have passed have simply been attempts to wreck the Bill and thwart the will of the people is both false and dangerous.”

Responding for the Government, Brexit minister Lord Callanan said: “We have endeavoured to provide as much transparency as possible to our plan for ensuring environmental protections are enhanced, not weakened, as we leave the EU.”

Meanwhile in the House of Commons, Theresa May fought off a Labour bid to force the release of secret Cabinet papers about post-Brexit customs arrangements with the EU, winning a vote by a margin of 32 votes.

Top 10 of Jacob Rees-Mogg’s best Brexit quotes

Thu, February 8, 2018

The Conservative MP is known for his upper-class mannerisms and traditionalist views

At least four million Britons cannot get as much work as they want because of employers’ access to cheap EU labour, according to analysis.

Migration Watch UK said last night that positive unemployment figures masked the number of underemployed part and full-time workers who would like to do more hours in their current, different or extra jobs.

“The truth is they are simply not adjusting working practices to meet the needs of British workers, because they have an unlimited number of EU workers on tap.”

A Department for Work and Pensions spokesman responded: “The employment rate of UK nationals is at a joint record high and employment has increased by over three million since 2010, with the vast majority of the increase down to full-time work.”